Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - Sanity Check - Stems

I have two problems and I want to see if it is possible to kill them both with one fix. My first problem is my hands get numb when riding and I have to move them around the bar a lot to try and ease the numbness. Second problem is less painful and that is wanting more flex in my arms.

I’m not a racer and I think my bike setup has me leaning to far over and I don’t have the core strong to support my upper body, so the extra weigh is put on my hands. I also think the bars are to far out.

My current stem is 100mm with a 7-degree rise. Would changing it out with a stem that is 90mm with a 17-degree rise help both my problems? It would put me in a slightly less bent over stance and give my core a better chance to support my upper body, and the bars would be a little closer and allow me to have some are flex.

the nice thing about stems is that they are relatively cheap, so you can experiment easily and revert if it fails. your logic is solid, go ahead and test it.

My vote is for core workouts.

Don't lower the "bar" of life.

Besides if you put more weight on your butt [with a higher handlebar position] you'll be soon posting looking for advice on a more comfortable saddle....... ;)

I made the same stem switch you are considering and it worked for me.
Saddle is a Terry Liberator and it is fine.

Honestly, it's going to be impossible for anyone to know without seeing your bike and you on your bike. We don't know how much saddle to bar drop you have, or how stretched out you are now on the bike, etc. etc.

Having said that, it's very possible that the new stem would be a step in the right direction for you. Give it a shot and let us know how it worked out.

JB

I had the same hand an arm problem, I have relativley short arms to I spent alot of time leaninf heavily onm my hands and wanting to stretch and flex. I have to be honest, I nicer pair of gloves fixed the hand problem and the arm issue kind of went away after a while.

more setback, moving saddle back, shifts weight off your arms a bit , also ..

Not to be snarky but without knowing where he sits between the wheels and a dozen other factors.........Oh hell, never mind.

Assuming (yes, we all know what this can do!) that everything else on the bike is setup correctly for you, then maybe raising the bars is the correct answer.
IF this is what you plan to do, then consider doing it the same way I did when I set up my first bike. I used an adjustable stem/neck. The bike was old and had a quill-type stem, but the principle will be the same. The adjsutable stem will cost you about $25 for a typical model (search ebay, amazon, etc).
+++

Stem came in and I made the change from the 100mm 7 degree to the new 90mm 17 degree. The swap was fast and easy, longest part was finding new zip ties to reattach the mount for my Garmin 705. So far I have only done one ride with the new setup and it was just a 10-mile out and back. I'm hoping to take it out and get some good miles with the new setup with week (play nice weather) and verify the results of the 10-mile ride.